Day 4: The first 30 minutes are free

After the tremendous breakfast the day before, we headed back to Milk and Honey for breakfast again. This time I had the granola Jon had the day before. Jon ordered the pancakes, and they were incredible. They were true buttermilk pancakes with that sour flavor that plays off sweet syrup so well. The pancakes were stuffed with crunchy granola and cherries. They were so, so delicious. Jude ordered the fig, chocolate, strawberry coffee cake, which was also wonderful. He didn't finish it, so we were happy to take care of the leftovers as a midnight snack. 

It was raining as we packed up the car, and we were a bit disappointed because we wanted to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free. We carried on and went to the zoo anyway so that we could see if the rain was really that bad or if we could make a go of it. We found that the zoo parking lot offered the first 30 minutes for free, so we took our time checking weather forecasts and sizing up the situation. After about 15 minutes we decided to go in and have some Chicago dogs and use the bathroom before leaving. We figured we could do that before the 30 minutes was up if Jon went around the block and started the time over. 

Jon and Jude circled the block while I went in to use the bathroom. Once we were all together in the zoo in the pouring rain, our sense of adventure was unlocked. We bought some ponchos, ate some hotdogs, and set out to explore. 


The jaguar was the highlight of the morning. He was up moving all around his enclosure, and we got some great pictures. Jude recently played the part of the jaguar in The Great Kapok Tree at school, so it was really cool to see a real jaguar. We stayed at the zoo for hours, having a wonderful time. We ended the day with some ice cream cones and hit the road back to Kentucky to see my family and pick up Lucy B.